National summit in Sioux Falls hails the role of citizen-soldiers

Aug. 19, 2013

Gov. Dennis Daugaard speaks Sunday at the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States conference in Sioux Falls. He welcomed the Guard's conference back to South Dakota, the site of its first national expo in 1972. / Elisha Page / Argus Leader

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An American flag that had flown over Mount Rushmore — run across the state by enlisted members of the armed forces — arrived Sunday in Sioux Falls. It was a reminder of the importance of the Guard in helping to provide security at home.

It was a fitting reminder, too, because a slice of the nation was meeting in Sioux Falls. South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard welcomed the National Guard’s 42nd annual conference & expo back to the state where the first conference was held in 1972.

“I feel grateful that so many people have come to South Dakota to join and to celebrate the wonderful service of our enlisted soldiers in the National Guard,” he said during the ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park.

Other speakers included Tim Reisch, South Dakota National Guard adjutant general, and Frank Grass, chief of the National Guard Bureau.

Before the conference began, Grass spoke with his son, who serves in the armed forces.

He told him where he would speak Sunday and asked whether he had a message to share. For a moment, Grass became overwhelmed with emotion, but after recollecting himself, he said:

“Tell them: ‘Keep doing what you’re doing, so we can keep doing what we’re doing.’ ”

The 147th Army Band out of Mitchell was on hand for the event, which was attended by a crowd estimated at about 1,000.

Because of federal sequestration, conference numbers dipped from the expected 1,500 to 1,800, said conference operations chairman Bruce Anderson. Yet he views the turnout as successful, considering the tightening of federal tax dollars.

He said the National Guard has to make a case for continued support from Washington, D.C.

“Important to make sure we tell that story, because there are fewer and fewer members in Congress that have ever been tied to the military, so you have to tell your story,” he said.

Veterans in the audience included 83-year-old Jasper Shaw of Miller. Shaw, who served two years in the Army and 29 in the National Guard, said he stumbled upon the event, but he was happy he did.

“I thought it was great,” he said. “I’m glad I got to hear the governor speak.”